CatchLight Global Fellows Revealed at Visual Storytelling Summit
At the recent CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit on May 3, the San Francisco-based nonprofit Catchlight announced the recipients of this year’s CatchLight Global Fellows program. These three talented photographers were awarded a $30,000 grant to develop their projects and engage with the communities they document. The focus of this year’s fellows is on using photography as a tool for social change and solidarity, moving away from traditional documentary storytelling.
One of the fellows, Rehab Eldalil, is a photographer based in Cairo who collaborated with a war survivor in the SWANA region for her project titled “From the Ashes, I Rose.” Eldalil’s project aims to showcase the resilience and strength of the patients at the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Amman, transforming their experiences into acts of resistance. Through a mixed-media approach, Eldalil highlights the power of solidarity in overcoming the challenges of civilian violence.
In her project, Eldalil worked closely with individuals like Shams, a 12-year-old girl from Iraq who was injured in an explosion at a young age. Despite her injuries, Shams is an artist and TikTok creator who used her newfound skills and occupational therapy rehabilitation to create Polaroid works that reflect her journey towards independence. Additionally, Eldalil captured the story of Sabrine, a 31-year-old woman from Iraq who suffered severe facial injuries from a car explosion in Mosul. Through her project, Sabrine found strength in bonding with fellow patients and embracing her injury rather than hiding it.
Through their powerful and emotive storytelling, the CatchLight Global Fellows are paving the way for a new era of visual narrative that centers on community empowerment and social change. Their work exemplifies the transformative potential of photography as a medium for amplifying voices and inspiring action.
